Accordion to commuters, musician is a hit

Monday morning I met what I believe I met the best accordion player to have a daily gig in a BART station. Oh, and I also met his dog. Ginger the accordion-loving mutt. Here’s a video by Mike Kepka.

Robert Doerr says he’s been playing accordion for 30 years, even though he realized when he began that it probably wasn’t going to be chick magnet.

“I had my doubts at first,” he said. “But then I learned to play all those rock and roll songs.”

A reader tipped me off to Doerr, who’s been setting up in the Civic Center BART station for the last three years.

“I could sit in my room and play all day,” he said. “But I’d rather come out and share the gift.”

It is funny how an accordion has a tendency to make the corners of people’s lips turn up. When he played the Beatles “All my lovin’,” you could see heads turn, searching for the source, and then a slow smile.

Doerr can play all kinds of songs. He’s got a song list taped to the pillar where he plays, next to the small throw rug he brings, which has the face of a dog on it. Monday morning he was wearing an electric blue dress shirt and blue shoes to match, which were color coordinated with his blue accordion. He’s also got a outfits to match his the red accordion, the black and gold one, the gold and while, and white one with the big red heart.

But to be honest, the secret star of the show is Ginger. At odd moments, Ginger rolls over on her back, sticks her feet in the air, and plays dead. It’s a show stopper. And, it’s not easy to teach a dog to do that.

So if you see Robert and Ginger, and enjoy their act you should tip . . . accordionly.